5 Reasons for Getting Help with Your Tax!

In this day and age many people are doing their own taxes with online software. It seems like a smart thing to do to save money. However, what may seem like a money saver could actually be costing you in the long run. As individuals we aren’t skilled in understanding the changing complexity of current tax laws, after all we have specialise in our own chosen industry. Its difficult to know how tax reforms can help or harm us. Ignorance is certainly not bliss when it comes to our taxes.
Here are five reasons for getting help with your tax filing:

1) Confusion and Anxiety
Most people experience anxiety when it comes to doing their own taxes. They’ve heard, like most of us, about the horror stories that follow an erroneous tax filing. There are people that receive a notice after five years that they owe back taxes plus interest. When dealing with these cases there is no statute of limitation for The Australian Taxation Office (ATO). These false claims can come back to haunt you years down the track. There are also situations in which it can get so confusing you are left wondering if it’s not costing you more in time than it would in money to get it done by a real accountant. The nervous stomach, the fear of not doing it right and the time involved just aren’t worth it.

2) Understanding the tax laws
Professional accountants are well versed in all the tax laws, how and when to apply them. Many people that think there is a ‘one size fits all’ solution and may actually be paying too much over the course of the year. This is one of the great misunderstandings about tax returns. Many people think that it’s great to get a large tax return at the end of the year. What they don’t know is the reason they are getting their own money back because they have paid too much all year, money that could have been earning them interest in their bank account. It is vital to protect ourselves and take advantage of the experience of a professional accountant.

3) Tax Accountants Help us Rather than Harm us.
Having a skilled tax accountant in our corner takes so much of the risk and mystery out of the tax process. None of us want to pay more taxes than we already do. We could be putting the money we save on tax payments into investments and creating personal wealth. Professional accountants can help us know how to defer some of our tax liability so we have more money to invest. Getting help with your tax will be the best decision you make all year.

4) Effective Tax Planning
Accountants can guide you through the maze of investment opportunities currently available. They can present you with options that suityour personal situation and income. They can help you find the investment strategies that are the right risk level and will help you savemoney on your taxes each year. Money saved is money earned. Effective Tax Planning can empower each of us to have a financially stable future. Being aware of the current tax climate skilled accountants can see the dangers that may be lying in wait for our small businesses.

5) Being Self-Employed is a Risky Business
The need for a skilled accountant is even more necessary for those entrepreneurial-minded individuals that have their own business. There are so many hats that a business owner must wear it is almost impossible to understand all the tax laws that can hurt or help the bottomline. It is worth the money spent to hire a capable accountant to make sure you not only get all your entitled to, but to protect you from straying into legal difficulties. A business audit from the Tax Office can quickly become a considerable consumer of both time and money.

The biggest question you should have when deciding whether or not to get help with your tax filing is: can we afford not to? The money spent hiring a specialist is saved as soon as they put that knowledge to work for you. Not to mention the peace of mind of knowing that there will be no nasty surprises in future years.